A wave of bittersweet emotion washes over the prisoners as they are released from captivity. They were free and were led to a place of bountiful food, but so many had been lost. So much suffering and death had plagued these people. How does one rebuild after this? In a class I would ask my students what they would do first. How would you go about picking up the pieces and starting a new life? They would not be able to relate in this way, but I'm sure many of them have experienced great loss in their lives, and could talk about that.
Preparing to migrate to not only another country but another continent is another frightening concept. Being in a tight confined space crowded with many other people would seem like the last thing any of these people would want to do again. They had a dream of obtaining freedom in a land far away from where they had been imprisoned. The courage it takes to pursue such a dream is astronomical. At the same time it seems like the best way to restart.
I would ask my students to try to step into the shoes of an immigrant first coming to America, and try to imagine the anxiety and excitement of arriving in a new land.
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